This week some of the core elements of what makes metal great today – brutality, aggression, thematic confidence, stylistic refinement and innovation – gets into a fight over which one is more essential.
Alfahanne – Vår tid är nu
Genre: Black ‘n roll
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Should you feel like jumping excitedly up and down, or simply nod your head nonchalantly while staring into the floor? This is blackened rock that swings a bit back and forth between groove and nihilism.
All This Filth – Will Tomorrow Be Better?
Genre: Groove metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Vicious, rhythmic groove metal that mostly forgoes melody to deliver tight riffs and hardcore aggression.
Chapel Of Disease – Echoes Of Light
Genre: Progressive/black metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is one of those albums that makes more and more sense the longer you listen to it. The juxtaposition of harsh, Tribulation-style vocals and optimistic, progressive hard rock can feel a bit off-putting at first, but it doesn’t take long before you naturally accept it as a deliberate style choice. It lends an edge to the otherwise fairly gentle, adventurous grooves, and matches the more intense sections very well. The compositions feel organic, and each track has plenty of character.
Highlight: “Selenophile”.
Contaminated – Celebratory Beheading
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Chaotic and hostile death metal with a speed demon drummer. Check it out if you like your death metal dirty and violent.
F.K.Ü. – The Horror And The Metal
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This one’s just a real good thrashing time. Precise, mid-tempo, mischievous and very headbanging-friendly. The songs are structured to get the most effect out of those tasty riffs, the production is crisp and punchy, and the vocal delivery matches the rhythms perfectly. Horns up!
Gurney – The Creeper (EP)
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
An ominous, ponderous beast of a death doom record with elements of sludge and stoner.
Hulder – Verses In Oath
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Hulder’s latest offering is one of those records where it takes you mere seconds to realize that you’re onto pure quality (at least once you get past the intro). Here’s something for fans of most of the black metal spectrum. It’s grim, subtly yet distinctly melodic, controlled even at its most aggressive, with a light haze of mystical atmosphere. Its strength lies in the details, of which there are more than enough to mark it out as something special.
Highlights: “Hearken The End” and “Veil of Penitence”.
Infected Rain – Time
Genre: Nu metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Infected Rain are back with their attention-catching mix of nu metal grooves and clean, melodic choruses, blending in a few, mildly dissonant djent sections here and there to maintain a sharp edge. TIME delivers admirably, but doesn’t quite take off.
In Vain – Back To Nowhere
Genre: Heavy/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A light-on-its-feet heavy metal album that scores big on fun and enthusiasm, weighing up for a non-negligible lack of originality.
The Last Ten Seconds Of Life – No Name Graves
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A super stompy, slamming deathcore record, which is right along the lines of what you’d expect from this band. Clenched-teeth aggression flares through on every level, from the beats to the brutal vocal delivery. If this is the kind of thing that gets you fired up you should grab this and jump straight into a heavy gym session.
Highlights: “Broken Glass Incantation” and “Feel My Fangs in You”
Morbid Saint – Swallowed By Hell
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Speed! Scorching the ground as it sets off, cutting through the air like a razor and radiating devilishly irreverent glee, this hits all the marks for an adrenaline-fueled thrash record. While the style feels old-school, it doesn’t shy away from a punchy, modern production, while stile retaining a cracked-leather, nail studded hide of raw, youthful aggression.
Highlights: “Burn Pit” and “Killer Instinct”.
Petrification – Sever Sacred Light
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Musty, subterranean death metal that works its way in and out of heavy, rhythmic grooves like a massive machine that hasn’t stopped running for centuries. It’s brutal, but not overly hostile, delivering crunchy riffs and guitar squeals aplenty.
Romuvos – Spirits
Genre: Folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Pagan, Baltic folk metal with a strong focus on mystical atmosphere and traditional instruments. Great if you’re looking for a non-Scandinavian folk mood, although the metal parts are fairly straightforward.
Spectral Voice – Sparagmos
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
A nightmarish death doom record that clings to you like clawed, skeletal fingers in the pitch black depths of oily quicksand. And, as the intensity builds, it takes the form of a hulking, cadaverous beast stalking you blindly through a dark, dead forest. There’s nothing even approaching hopeful or light-hearted on this record, its four, monumental tracks dropping onto you like the collapsing walls of a massive cave, promising to trap you, helpless against the lurking horrors of the deep.
Highlights: “Sinew Censer” and “Be Cadaver”.
Spiritual Deception – Semitae Mentis
Genre: Technical/atmospheric death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Tech death exploding with grandiose, dramatic atmosphere, eager to set off its fireworks display of brutal, tight instrumentality, not thinking overly hard about where they’re headed.
Where Oceans Burn – The Faces We Portray
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Modern, mildly prog-infused metalcore that pendulums between technical harshness and pop-styled melody.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band or need to give an album another shot, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
The Metal Dispatch 